OUTTAKE BLOG™

Monday, July 26, 2010

NJ High Court Rejects Gay Marriage Case

The New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to hear a casefrom six same-gender couples seeking the right to marrysaying the case needs to wind its way through the lowercourts first. Read More... Updates to Come...:)Exclusive Audio Interview with Gunner ScottExecutive Director of Massachusetts TransgenderPolitical CoalitionOUTTAKE VOICES™

Lt. Dan Choi Drummed OUT

Dan Choi has been “honorably” discharged from the militaryin the midst of the ”Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” challenges. Thoughhis discharge has been rumored for weeks, Choi said he onlyofficially learned of the discharge on Thursday after a phonecall from his commander. Updates to Come...:)Read More....Hear Audio Interviews w/ LGBT Leaders@OUTTAKE VOICES™

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

United Nations Endorses Gay Group

Massachusetts Chief Justice Margaret Marshall who wrotethe landmark ruling legalizing gay marriage is retiring.Read More...Tuesday Constance McMillen won $35,000 in damages from the school district in Fulton, Mississippi after discriminatingagainst her when she wanted to bring her girlfriend to prom.The United Nations has voted to accredit a U.S. based gayrights group. It took 3 years for the International Gay &Lesbian Human Rights Commission who applied for"consultative status" @ the U.N. Economic & Social Council(ECOSOC) to be approved by a 23-13 vote (w/ 13 abstentions.)Over 3,000 groups have "consultative" status at the UnitedNations. Those groups are allowed to submit statements,advocate & attend meetings.The International Gay & LesbianHuman Rights Commission has offices in New York City, SouthAfrica & Argentina. More Info: IGLGHRC.org Exclusive Audio Interview with Gary Buseck,Legal Director of the Gay & Lesbian Advocates &Defenders (GLAD) on historic DOMA decision@ OUTTAKE VOICES™

Monday, July 19, 2010

From the Frontline of EUROPRIDE

Exclusive: Stephanie Blackwood reporting from EUROPRIDE...“The good news out of Warsaw is that the Polish press has beenvery positive & favorable toward the EuroPride celebration.This may represent the hopeful beginning of a positive relationshipbetween the community & the new government. Everyone isbeing cautiously optimistic..."Sunday: Stephanie Blackwood reporting from EUROPRIDE..."The parade started about a half-hour late because the police,who had a pronounced presence, were quelling a disturbanceby anti-gay protesters. They were a noisy, aggressive nucleusof hate. Walking through the park en route to the parade ayoung tough was wrestled down by three uniformed cops.I'm not sure what he did to motivate their action, but therewas an ugly undertone circulating through the crowd surroundingthe staging area in front of Warsaw City Hall. One of my friendsaccidentally bumped a young man. He responded with a snarling,clenched fist glare to the understandable brush.As I said, the police were a large presence...uniformed, plainclothes,mounted, motorcycle...& they were supported by an enormouscontingent of volunteer security monitors who lined the route.Along the route, there were many bystanders. Many were closetedgay men taking photos of attractive marchers. Many were elderly,perhaps educating themselves, perhaps quietly protesting, perhapscurious. Many were young families. Many were just the fabulousMillennial generation that embraces diversity. Many were justplain folks who seemed to be out on a Sunday afternoon, checkingout EuroPride. I did not feel threatened at any point, after theparade got underway and we left the protesters in our dust."Updates to Come...:)Stephanie Blackwood is moderator of the 3rd InternationalGLBT Business Leaders Forum @ EUROPRIDE in Warsaw.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Poland’s Gay Pride Resists Violence

Warsaw: Polish police used batons to push back homophobicprotesters @ Saturday's EuroPride gay parade in Warsaw.Thousands of our LGBT community & allies marched in thePolish capital, amidst several counter-demonstrations bynationalist groups. Some demonstrators attempted to stop theparade & threw eggs but Police intervened & used batons topush back a crowd of protesters.Warsaw has hosted gay pride parades since 2001 but this yearwas the first time Warsaw has hosted the EuroPride parade,which is held each year in a different European city.LGBT civil rights remains a touchy subject in Roman CatholicPoland. Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz signed thepapers permitting the event. When he was mayor of Warsaw,the late President Lech Kaczyński twice refused to allow gaypride parades to go forward in the capital. Updates to Come…:)Exclusive Audio Interview with Gary Buseck,Legal Director of the Gay & Lesbian Advocates &Defenders (GLAD) on historic DOMA decision@ OUTTAKE VOICES™

Argentina Passes Gay Marriage

Argentina's Senate passed a gay marriage bill becoming thefirst country in South America to allow gay couples to marry.After more than 14 hours of charged debate, during whichthousands of Argentines protested outside the Congress, theupper house voted 33-27 for the proposal with three abstentions."I believe this has advanced equal rights," Senator Eugenio Artazatold reporters after the debate in which many lawmakers in theupper house invoked their Roman Catholic beliefs to explaintheir stance. Wake-up America!! Updates to Come…:)Hear Audio Interviews w/ LGBT Leaders@OUTTAKE VOICES™

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Gay GOP Challenge “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”

All charges have been dropped against Lt. Dan Choi &James Pietrangelo who twice chained themselves to aWhite House fence to protest the military's"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Read More...

UPDATE: Log Cabin DADT Trial Begins...Read More...San Diego: Log Cabin Republicans vs. The United States ofAmerica, is a direct challenge to the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policywhich was actually filed in 2004. The trial in Riverside startsTuesday & is scheduled to last two weeks. This case is especiallytimely with the Obama administration dragging their feet failingto repeal DADT. The suit is challenging the constitutionality of thepolicy in federal court in Southern California.Dan Woods, attorney for the Log Cabin Republicans, says he wantsa federal judge to halt the policy immediately nationwide. Perfecttiming in light of this obscene 4 million dollar survey circulatingamong military personnel about having gays openly serve in thearmed forces. Can you imagine a survey like this circulating aboutBlack Americans serving in the military in mid-20th Century?For More Info: logcabin.org Updates to Come…:)Exclusive Audio Interview w/ Mark Elderkin, CEOof the Gay Ad Network. Elderkin is a dot com visionary & entrepreneur @ OUTTAKE VOICES™

Friday, July 9, 2010

Obama Silent on Fed Gay Marriage Ruling

Now we wait to see if the Obama administration will appealyesterday’s federal ruling finding DOMA unconstitutional.Obama has said over & over again that he wants to repealthe Defense of Marriage Act yet the administration wassilent today on whether it would appeal the ruling that foundsection 3 of DOMA unconstitutional. The rulings apply onlyto Massachusetts, where same-gender marriage has been legalsince 2004. This means that Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont,New Hampshire & the District of Columbia should file theirown challenges. In the meantime come to Massachusetts whereequality lives….:)For more info: glad.org4/12/10Exclusive Audio Interview w/ Lee Swislow,Executive Director of the Gay & Lesbian Advocates& Defenders (GLAD) on Gill v. Office of PersonnelManagement that challenged Section 3 of DOMAin today's historic ruling @OUTTAKE VOICES™Hear Audio Interviews w/ LGBT Leaders@OUTTAKE VOICES™

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Federal Court Rules DOMA Unconstitutional

Finally federal rights & protections for gay couples instates where gay marriage is legal is on the way.....:)In Boston yesterday, U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauroruled in two separate cases that a critical portion of thefederal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. The USDistrict Court in Massachusetts ruled that Congress violatedthe Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when it passedDOMA & took from the states decisions concerning whichcouples can be considered married.In the second case, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management,the ruling was DOMA violates the equal protection principlesembodied in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.The case was brought by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders(GLAD), the people that won the landmark gay marriagedecision in 2003 before the Massachusetts Supreme Court.Gary Buseck, GLAD's legal director, said that Thursday's ruling "is for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, so it seems to be encompassing all of the same-gender married couples in Massachusetts." He added that it would be "highly unusual" if the ruling was not appealed. Updates to Come...:)For more info: glad.org4/12/10 Exclusive Audio Interview w/ Lee Swislow,Executive Director of the Gay & Lesbian Advocates& Defenders (GLAD) on Gill v. Office of PersonnelManagement that challenged Section 3 of DOMAin today's historic ruling @OUTTAKE VOICES™Exclusive Audio Interview w/ Mark Elderkin, CEOof the Gay Ad Network. Elderkin is a dot com visionary & entrepreneur @ OUTTAKE VOICES™